Many consider it the No. 1 job of Congress: national security. In a world constantly dealing with terrorism, the two men hoping to represent Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District say they have the experience necessary to tackle the issue head-on.

Neither Democrat Rep. Brad Ashford or retired Air Force Gen. Don Bacon believe the War on Terror will be over anytime soon. Both men have inside knowledge of the battle: Ashford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and Bacon, a veteran deployed overseas multiple times.

Ashford is pushing for a new Authorization for Use of Force, which allows congressional oversight for fighting but gives the military authority to make it happen.

“So we reaffirm the need for stable and robust funding for our military in the last year in 2015 in the budget deal,” Ashford stated. “So, the tide is changing but there’s much work to be done and we need to also ask ourselves, ‘what comes next?’”

Meanwhile, Bacon says America’s national security has declined at the expense of domestic programs.

“Our president has held defense spending hostage to some degree for domestic spending,” Bacon stated. “He recently said ‘we can spend more on defense but we need to match it with domestic spending.’ Well, we’ve already raised domestic spending the past seven years and I think it was a bad trade-off.”

The retired general aims to increase military training, including war-like “red flag scenarios.” He also wants to add manpower at the lower ranks, and bolster America’s nuclear ranks.

Both politicians say it’s crucial to step up the battle on the cyber front in an effort to end ISIS’ aggressive online recruitment.